KOCHARIAN ‘INTERESTED’ IN CLEAN VOTE
By Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Jan 22 2008
President Robert Kocharian assured international observers on Tuesday
that Armenia’s leadership will do its best to ensure that the upcoming
presidential election is free and fair.
"We are interested in holding elections meeting international standards
and will try to do everything [for that purpose] in the organizational
sense," Kocharian told Geert-Hinrich Ahrens, head of the election
observation mission deployed in the country by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The mission officially began its work on January 10, expressing hope
that the February 19 vote will mark an improvement over last May’s
parliamentary elections which OSCE observers described as largely
democratic. Their assessment of the previous Armenian elections,
including the two presidential elections controversially won by
Kocharian, were far more negative.
The OSCE’s Warsaw-based Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights (ODIHR) plans to again deploy about 300 monitors on voting
day. Their findings will be critical for the international legitimacy
of Armenia’s next president.
A statement by Kocharian’s office quoted the outgoing president as
urging the OSCE/ODIHR mission to "meticulously check" every report
of electoral fraud before including it into its preliminary and final
reports. "Robert Kocharian also provided explanations regarding issues
raised by the head of the ODIHR observer mission," the statement
added without elaborating.
Kocharian indicated last week that he believes ultimate responsibility
for ensuring the proper conduct of the upcoming ballot rests with
Armenia’s leading political parties that appoint most members of
various-level election commissions.